Now that the election is over, nonprofits are encouraging the incoming administration to take action that will strengthen the sector with capacity building, incentives for giving, and policies that encourage service and protect the integrity of the sector. Many organizations, including OMB Watch, are also making policy recommendations in their areas of expertise, ranging from education to transparency to health and safety protections.
The Starting Point: Obama's Campaign Commitments
With a former community organizer as president-elect, nonprofits have high hopes that they will find a White House that is sympathetic to their needs and goals. This is especially true in a time of financial instability when government needs civil society to help address community needs. President-elect Barack Obama has promised to invest in the nonprofit sector, expand youth involvement in service programs, and expand the Corporation for National and Community Service and Peace Corps. BarackObama.com states, "Obama and Biden will expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000 and they will focus this expansion on addressing the great challenges facing the nation."
During his campaign, Obama proposed the creation of a Social Investment Fund Network "to use federal seed money to leverage private sector funding to improve local innovation, test the impact of new ideas and expand successful programs to scale." In addition, he promised to create a Social Entrepreneurship Agency for Nonprofits within the Corporation for National and Community Service, which will be dedicated to building the capacity of the nonprofit sector. The Sept. 11 issue of TIME stated Obama's goals for national service: "We need to invest in grass-roots ideas, because the 'next great innovation' usually doesn't come from government. So I'll create a Social Investment Fund Network and bring together faith-based organizations and foundations to expand successful programs across the country."
Obama acknowledges some of the problems facing nonprofit leaders, such as insufficient federal support. In July, Obama criticized lack of funds for social services and outlined how he would alter the faith-based initiative, promising to bar religious discrimination in hiring for federally funded positions.
Proposals to Strengthen and Protect the Nonprofit Sector
A report from the Johns Hopkins University Nonprofit Listening Post Project, titled Nonprofit Policy Priorities for the New Administration, provided results of a survey on priorities within a subsection of the nonprofit community. The survey asked what a new administration could do to help nonprofit groups and their clients handle the economic crisis. The results were based on 448 responses from nonprofit executives, heavy on human services providers, resulting in a list of four specific priority measures:
Survey respondents also strongly supported preserving the estate tax and strengthening recruitment of nonprofit workers.
Diana Aviv, chief executive of Independent Sector, called on Congress to create a "Small Nonprofit Administration" when she testified before a House subcommittee in 2007. An article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (subscription required) addresses this proposal: "Something akin to a Small Business Administration for nonprofit groups, a move that would acknowledge the financial clout of the charitable world and its status as a lead player in solving social problems. Others question whether new government programs would really help improve charities' operations — or would instead stifle nonprofit organizations' independence and invite further regulation."
The Center for American Progress Action Fund and the New Democracy Fund recommend that the Obama administration create a White House Office of Social Entrepreneurship to draw attention to the significant role nonprofits and social entrepreneurs play in solving societal ills. This proposal differs from Obama's in that the office would be located within the White House instead of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The proposal was included in Change for America: a Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy (subscription required), it also includes an "Impact Fund" at the Corporation for National and Community Service to help nonprofit groups collect data and better evaluate their success.
The Charity and Security Network, coordinated by OMB Watch, has proposed changes in national security and counterterrorism laws that have created barriers to nonprofit operations or that have been used to discourage dissent. These recommendations seek to update laws to address these barriers, ensure that frozen funds of designated terrorist organizations are used for charitable purposes, and increase government oversight over the impact national security laws have on humanitarian aid, development, and charitable programs.
Independent Sector has also put together a strong set of draft recommendations for the next administration and Congress. The platform, designed "to strengthen the ability of Americans to improve our communities and our world through nonprofit organizations," includes:
Recommendations to Support Nonprofits' Public Interest Mission
Nonprofits are actively working to make sure their issues are on the Obama administration's agenda. For example, Every Child Matters (ECM) and other children's organizations plan to work with the administration and Congress to gain new federal investments in children, youth, and family services. During his campaign, Obama proposed numerous initiatives to protect children and strengthen families. ECM will urge Obama to make spending on children and families a priority in his budget. The Change for America document has proposals in numerous issue areas, including domestic, economic, and national security policy. Before the election, the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy released a package of proposals, which include two dozen papers covering a range of law and justice policy areas.
Nonprofits are being proactive and working diligently to develop consensus on various issues in preparation for January. OMB Watch convened a group of hundreds of individuals and organizations to put together recommendations on government openness, information, and other transparency issues. The 21st Century Right to Know Recommendations stress the need for the Obama administration and Congress to effectively use modern Internet technologies. The recommendations fall into three categories: National Security and Secrecy; Usability of Information; and Creating a Government Environment for Transparency.
In addition, to develop regulatory reform recommendations, OMB Watch organized a steering committee of regulatory experts to put forth a consensus document that reflects what it sees as the most important regulatory process issues for the president-elect and Congress. For more on these and other recommendations, see Renewing Government: Recommendations to President-elect Obama and the 111th Congress.
The Ongoing Oversight Role of Nonprofits and Civil Society
Shortly before the election, Pablo Eisenberg wrote an opinion piece for the Chronicle of Philanthropy (subscription required) that says, "Nonprofit groups have the obligation to monitor, criticize, and, at times, oppose government efforts that are considered inappropriate or inadequate." Eisenberg goes on to call on nonprofits to "[m]aintain a strong advocacy role." He also urges these organizations to not "forget that one of the important missions of nonprofit organizations is to hold any administration and the federal government accountable and to fight against programs they deem harmful to their constituents."
The Chronicle of Philanthropy has a number of resources on what nonprofit groups would like to recommend to the next administration. One article (subscription required) discusses the results from interviews of charity officials and experts, asking what the new president can do to strengthen philanthropy. The results included support for federal assistance to nonprofits, working with charities on issues such as health care, encouraging and stimulating giving both domestically and overseas, requiring service for all students, reforming rules on charity solicitors, and much more.
One website has been set up, WhiteHouse2.org, which allows anyone to add his or her own content and express opinions on what Obama's priorities should be for his first 100 days. It adds up everyone's priorities and creates one list on the homepage of the top 25 recommendations. Change.org also has an online tool targeted toward transition recommendations. Change.org is asking people for their ideas, and the top suggestions will be submitted to the administration on Inauguration Day.
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